Once the pride of the French navy and a veteran of the first Gulf war, the 225m "Le Clem" has been a headache for the French government since her decommissioning in 1997, because there are 700 tonnes of asbestos between her decks. A string of countries refused to take her and she was boarded briefly by Greenpeace activists off Egypt before turning back in the face of a ban from the Suez canal.

The ship's demise has benefits for Hartlepool, with the prospect of 200 jobs and about £7m worth of recycled steel at Able UK, the marine recyclers who won the contract following negotiations with environmental activists.

Friends of the Earth, which led a successful campaign to bar US ghost ships from Able three years ago, has dropped opposition to Le Clem's arrival because of the improved dismantling standards at the shipyard, which now claims to be the best in the world at doing the job.

Mike Childs of Friends of the Earth said: "We are not campaigning against the Clemenceau's arrival, although we have every sympathy with local people who feel their area has been a dumping ground for waste for so many years – steelworks, ICI's old chemical plant and now this.

"But the ghost ships campaign has forced Able to go through all the correct procedures and bring their facilities up to date. It is much better that the ship should be dismantled to their standards than end up in India or elsewhere in Asia where workers do not have proper protection."

Opposition remains on Teesside where the Friends of Hartlepool group, which lost a final high court challenge to the contract in November, is expected to demonstrate against the ship's arrival.

Jean Kennedy, a member of the group. described the carrier as "a toxic ship with a deadly cargo".

"We feel that it is a deep injustice to force a small town, which has already disproportionately suffered the ill effects of polluting industries and has one of the highest cancer rates in the UK, to accept France's toxic waste," she said. "This is not just about jobs but about the health of the people of Hartlepool."

Mike Young, an engineer whose family helped build the 30-acre dock in the 1970s, accused the Environment Agency of negligence. "This dock was never built to dismantle ships. It has no solid floor and the hundreds of tonnes of contaminants, which are certain to be released when the ships are broken up, will pollute the water table. We know it's porous. We built it."

But the agency said: "Able UK Limited's facilities have been meticulously assessed before permits with stringent conditions were issued last year, allowing the dismantling of waste ships and offshore structures in a dry dock in a manner that will not cause harm to the environment or to human health".

Able's chief executive Peter Stephenson said investment at the yard, which has the world's biggest dry dock, would see Le Clem taken apart under "safe and environmentally friendly conditions."

"At a time when there are so many economic problems facing the world - and especially a region such as north-east England - I think it is crucially important that we are in a position to be at the forefront of an industry which has enormous potential for growth and job creation in the years ahead," he said.